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Top judoka at IJF Masters in St Petersburg

15 Dec 2017 17:45

IJF Media Team / IJF

Olympic champions Rafaela Silva and Khasan Khalmurzaev (RUS) will be in action at the last IJF World Tour event of the year. Along with world champions Hashimoto Soichi, Tonaki Funa (both JPN), Clarisse Agbegnenou (FRA) and Mayra Aguiar (BRA) who are all among a star-studded cast for IJF’s swansong in 2017. Top stars but also many sitting at home. Still some good matches to expect in St. Petersburg.

The IJF World Judo Tour has reached its final destination for 2017 as the invite-only World Judo Masters will conclude the season in style in St. Petersburg, Russia on Saturday and Sunday at the Yubileyny Sports Palace.

As the cold snap takes hold in St. Petersburg, the second largest city in Russia and former capital city, the top-16 judoka in each weight category in the world have been invited to the season-ending World Judo Masters which offers the most World Ranking List points on the IJF World Judo Tour after the World Championships.

A prestigious gold medal at the two-day season finale offers 1800 points with silver worth 1260 and bronze coming in at 900 points. The appeal of ending the year in pole position with number one spot on the World Ranking List comes with an added bonus this year as all 14 top-ranked judoka at the end of the year will each scoop an extra $50,000 in prize money. A total of $200,000 in prize money will be divided amongst the medallists at #JudoMasters2017 during the weekend.

The World Judo Masters is one of the premier showcases of judo with the stars of the circuit in action including Olympic and world champions. The draw took place on Friday afternoon where it was announced that 214 judoka (109 men and 105 women) from 46 nations would be heating up proceedings as the seasonal and expected snowfall hits Russia.

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